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Thursday, February 9, 2012

"Are We Not King's Men?"

The unthinkable becomes thinkable in The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Are you ready for this? Hector Barbossa joins the Royal Navy. Now that he no longer has the Black Pearl (and a leg)Barbossa hopes that by joining the navy he will be able to captain a ship and gain back his (well, more like Jack's) Pearl. So he puts on a wig (becoming even less attractive) and leads the HMS Providence to the fountain of youth. He ultimately becomes captain of the whole British navy. James Norrington never would have approved that. "Pirate? Nay. Privateer. On a sanctioned mission, under the authority and protection of the Crown."Well aren't you cool?

But to get to the Fountain, you have to have the maps, which he doesn't. Jack does, that is until he gives them to Gibbs. But Gibbs is too smart to be taken advantage of by Barbossa. He burns the charts before he lets anyone see them. Now, for Barbossa to have anyway of finding the fountain, he has to take Gibbs along. Which when you think about it, isn't really that bad. "Your head or my heading, I'll have me one or the other, I don't care which."-Barbossa

They set sail, with Joshamee Gibbs as their navigator. But the crew members begin to get rather tired from sailing and begin to question. Lucky for them, Captain Barbossa has a pep talk up his sleeve. Barbossa: "Are we not kings men? Aye! Hands aloft, and bear away! Stave on ahead to Whitecap Bay!"They get especially angry when they watch the Spaniards sail right past them. "The Fountain is the prize. It appears we be not even worth the time it take to sink us. Now, we've fallen behind! All hands! Make more sail!"They are determined to win the race to the fountain against the Spaniards and Blackbeard's ship The Queen Anne's Revenge.

Speaking of Blackbeard, Barbossa's real reason for leading the exposition to the Fountain of Youth is to again meet Blackbeard, but this time, Barbossa will get his revenge by killing Blackbeard. Jack: "You're not after the fountain." Barbossa: "I care not for King George or tavern yarns that give hope for a healed limb. But I'd give my left arm for a chance at Blackbeard."Jack:"Not your right?"Barbossa: "I need me good arm to drive my poisoned blade through his heart." Jack: "I'll see you get the chance mate." And Jack keeps his word on this one. Once all three parties have arrived at the fountain, the Royal Navy tries to claim the land as theirs. Well, until the person get shot. Then the Spaniard begin to destroy it without even using it. This brings about madness, and next thing you know, everyone is fighting. Alas, Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with is poisoned sword, as well as poisoning Angelica. Jack pulls together the last bit of water from the fountain, allowing Angelica to live. Blackbeard on the other hand, dies.

"I claim Blackbeard's ship and crew and this payment for me missing limb."Well, that seems like a fair trade. As it turns out, Barbossa does not gain back The Black Pearl rather he gets Queen Anne's Revenge. His pirating days have come again! "The Crown served me well. But now, by the Gods of sea and sky, make way for Tortuga!" You know what they say, once a pirate, always a pirate.